Heretofore door latch assemblies for doors include a latch which is normally spring biased to a locking position and which may be manually retracted in various ways even when the door is closed. Heretofore devices have been provided for preventing the latch from being manually retracted to prevent unauthorized passage through the doorway. Heretofore even in situations as this, the use of a crowbar or other tool upon the door jamb has been sufficient to bend the jamb to disengage the latch from the strike upon the door jamb permitting unauthorized entry. Conventional latches do not provide good security often necessitating the use of dead bolts and guard chains.
Heretofore door latch assemblies have been employed in connection with touch bar or panic bar actuators positionable upon the interior of a door, such as at a school or public place, wherein the latch mechanism may be retracted from the interior of the building to permit exit thereform.